Facebook has finally launched its much-awaited payments service — Whatsapp Pay — in India. The ‘secure’ payment service makes the use of UPI, and WhatsApp has partnered with five leading banks in India namely – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. 

WhatsApp Pay isn’t limited to these five banks though, it works with almost all the banks in India (160 banks are supported). It’s just WhatsApp is using these banks’ UPI servers to complete the transactions.

The messaging service has been testing its payment service for more than a year in India. Many reports say that WhatsApp was ready to launch this service last year, but was waiting for the approval from NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). The service has now complied with the regulations and is ready to be used in full swing.

Also Read: WhatsApp To Launch Multi-Device Support Soon! – Testing In Progress

WhatsApp Pay: How to Activate

• Update WhatsApp to the latest version from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store.

• After updating WhatsApp wait for the payments to show up.
• Open WhatsApp and click on the three dots on the top. On iOS, click on the last tab in the bottom row.

• After clicking on payments, click on the ‘Add Payment Method’ button.
• This will take you to a list where all the supported banks will be listed. Click on your bank and follow the steps.
• It will verify your phone number through a text message. You may need to enter your debit card number, UPI pin while setting up the account.

• Once set up, open a chat and click on the ‘Attach’ button to open the tray. Select the ‘Payments’ button to, well, make payments.